One, two, three, flush.
Never in Mariano Rivera's Hall of Fame-worthy career had baseball's all-time saves leader blown three straight saves.
So when Rivera was asked to protect a two-run lead against the Tigers in the ninth inning yesterday at Yankee Stadium, the belief was Rivera would avoid the hat trick.
Then Rivera gave up solo homers to Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez and the Stadium was bathed in silence. Wednesday night in Chicago. Friday night in The Bronx. And again yesterday.
As he did Friday night, Brett Gardner saved Rivera's backside. Then it was a game-winning single in extra innings. Yesterday he crushed a Jose Veras fastball over the right-field wall in the bottom of the ninth to lift the Yankees to a pulsating, 5-4 victory before 42,439 that included Alex Rodriguez's first homer, two RBIs and a pair of nice defensive plays.
Paul J. Bereswill
FLUSH & RUSH: Mariano Rivera (above) watches Victor Martinez's game-tying home run in the ninth, the second the Yankees closer gave up in the inning, setting the stage for Brett Gardner's game-winning home run for his second walk-off hit in three games and another Gatorade bath
Paul J. Bereswill
FLUSH & RUSH: Mariano Rivera watches Victor Martinez's game-tying home run in the ninth, the second the Yankees closer gave up in the inning, setting the stage for Brett Gardner's game-winning home run for his second walk-off hit in three games and another Gatorade bath
"Mo has bailed us out quite a few times,'' said Gardner, who squashed a Tigers rally in the eighth by crashing into the center-field fence to catch Torii Hunter's drive and turn it into an inning-ending double play.
The sight of Rivera standing on the mound watching two balls head for the right-field seats with his back to the plate was odd.
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Yet, to the 43-year-old Rivera, there was nothing shocking because he knew the reason. And Gardner's eighth homer removed some of the sting.
"Those balls were up, not where they were supposed to be,'' said Rivera, who was saddled with a fifth blown save in 40 chances. "I didn't throw the ball where I wanted. [On Friday,] we won and this one we won and that's the main thing.''
The victory enabled the Yankees to take two of three from the AL Central-leading Tigers. It's the first series the Yankees won since taking two of three from the Orioles July 5-7. For those counting, it pulled them to within 10 games of the AL East-leading Red Sox and left them seven behind the A's for the second wild card.
Asked if there were a level of concern with Rivera, who also gave up a homer to Cabrera on Friday night, Joe Girardi paused before answering.
"It's not like you forget how to pitch in a week, it's not possible,'' Girardi said. "He had a bad week.''
The appealing/appalling Rodriguez easily had his best game of the five he has played. His leadoff homer in the second that landed 13 rows deep in the left-field seats off Justin Verlander tied the score, 1-1. He added an RBI single in the third and turned in two solid defensive plays.
"It was a step in the right direction,'' said Rodriguez, who with 648 homers is 12 shy of Willie Mays for fourth place on the all-time list. The two RBIs broke a tie with Stan Musial for sixth place on the all-time leaderboard. With 1,952 RBIs, Rodriguez trails Lou Gehrig by 40.
While Verlander was impressed with Rodriguez, he said it was more the product of the Stadium's cozy confines than Rodriguez's muscle.
"I thought he looked great, the pitch he hit for a homer, a pop-up in most ballparks,'' Verlander said with a laugh. "I don't know. It could've gone out in some other, parks but here it is kind of a no-doubter.''
Alfonso Soriano's 2,000th career hit, a solo homer, and Eduardo Nunez's sacrifice fly accounted for the other two Yankees runs.
So, is Rivera worried?
"I don't worry, we always have this conversation, early, late and in the middle [of seasons],'' Rivera said.
But until yesterday the questions were never asked after three straight flush jobs.
george.king@nypost.com
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